Let’s Dig Deeper

Photo by: Maggie Rife Ponce - Rife Ponce Photography

Burndown After the Burnout

When I made Yakkety Yak my full-time career in 2014, my desire was to have a business that was flexible and a source of freedom. And for a while it was. I was doing what I loved, with clients that were incredible. So what went wrong?

The truth is, that I burned out.

After building Yakkety Yak to a multi-seven figure business, while having three kids in rapid fire, I ran out of gas and the business I had started for freedom became my chains.

The chains were self-inflicted to some extent, because instead of listening to my intuition, I had leaned into society’s expectations of what success looked like, without checking in with myself along the way. I subscribed to grind, growth, hustle, super masculine/patriarchal characteristics, without paying attention to ease and flow, and what my feminine side was craving. Though I had built something great I was miserable. I was disconnected from my WHOLE self. My body was stuck, my brain was stuck and my creativity was running on fumes.

Time to UNSUBSCRIBE.

Let’s rewind a bit. It was maybe 2021 when I started to hear, what I call, my Jumanji drum. It was this persistent reminder that I was meant for more—A constant nudge that things in my life were misaligned. I ignored the voice at first because I was scared of all the things that would have to change by being honest with myself, but then things started happening that forced me to take a closer look at my life. Examples included losing a very large client, facing unusually high turnover, and miscarrying a baby—among many others. Guess what: the universe will always find a way to make you pay attention whether you want to or not.

I had to dig deeper, so started asking myself questions about my belief system to unpack what was mine, and what was someone else’s. Did I want to be an entrepreneur? YES, it’s in my blood. Did I want to compromise my health, integrity and family to do so? Definitely not.

But in this capitalistic society where women are asked to wear a million hats, how could I be successful at home and successful at work? I realized that I was treating myself as a separate person, not a whole-ass person. I deserved to be happy in all areas and build a life that supported that. Until that point, I had left it all on the field as a mother and as a founder/CEO, but I had totally neglected to nurture the queen herself: ME!

That’s what I created better boundaries in my life. I picked up the pieces of myself that I had left behind through 1,000 microcompromises both personally and professionally. I reconnected with my creativity. I have always been a writer, painter, photographer, storyteller and so much more…so it was time to get back to my creative roots. I started singing and making music again. I starting creating art for myself, without expectation, every single day.

And slowly the fog started to clear.

I also wanted to reclaim my body and my health . I did this primarily by adopting somatic practices like yoga, walking in nature, practicing breathwork and sound healing. I started paying attention to how I was feeling in my body and trusting my instincts again. I stopped drinking because I realized that alcohol cut off that access to my inner knowing that was so vital to reclaiming my lifeforce energy. I started shifting who I spent time with to focus on those who were aligned as whole-ass people too.

In this process, I realized that so many people were having the same experience as me! So I decided that I had to share these modalities with other people in my life. Since then, I’ve earned multiple certifications in breathwork, sound healing, reiki, coaching and group facilitation. I am still the CEO of Yakkety Yak, and we are still dedicated to helping purpose-driven brands and businesses make a difference in the world. But this whole ass person never lets the grass grow under her feet—but now I focus on the elements that give me energy, life and make me feel more connected than ever to my soul. And that means doing this work, too.

I’ve known forever that I was born to serve the greater good and these deep-seated spiritual practices are so important. My intention now is to make these practices available to people in leaders who are seeking more meaning—and who have a willingness to break down social constructs to find joy.

Thanks for being here.